Northeast Ohio IGC celebrates 90 years in business

From Cleveland.com:

Bainbridge, Ohio - Trudging through Belgium during World War I, the son of a nurseryman from Chagrin Falls pondered a sight that weary comrades ignored: shady fields teeming with tuberous begonias in bloom.

Carlton Lowe thought the begonias might sell well back at home, so he persuaded a landowner to send seeds to Chagrin Falls.

After the war, Lowe struggled for eight years but finally produced enough of the lavishly flowering plants to open Lowe's Greenhouse and Nursery 90 years ago this year on Chillicothe Road (Ohio 306) in Bainbridge Township.

Sure enough, the flowers took the U.S. by a storm. Like the rose in Pasadena, Calif., the begonia became Bainbridge's official community flower.

Owner Jeff Griff believes that Lowe's, now officially Lowe's Greenhouses, Florist and Gift Shop, is the township's oldest surviving business. He should know, being an officer of the Chagrin Valley Chamber of Commerce and its scheduled president for 2018.

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